Chester, VT — Capping a diverse season that saw him on the podium with the Sprint Cars of New England, the USAC Dirt Midget Association and the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds at Bear Ridge Speedway, “The Fairlee Flier” Kevin Chaffee of Fairlee, VT was voted by the readers of Vermont Motorsports Magazine as the 2011 Vermont Motorsports Magazine Driver of the Year.

The versatile Chaffee had a pair of wins in his first season behind the wheel of a Midget, despite racing only part of the USAC DMA schedule. A feature victory in the DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds helped him finish fourth in Bear Ridge points and a solid SCoNE season saw success with an overall third place in the ultra-tight championship points battle.

“I was actually pretty surprised when I went on line and saw that I had won. On the first day of voting, I went on line and voted for a bunch of guys in a bunch of different categories. Then I kind of put it out of my mind while the voting ran for two weeks,” Chaffee said.

“One of the things that makes it such an honor to win is that it’s a competition for the entire state and for the tours from all over the area. I really want to thank everyone who voted for me. Of course, without my car owners I wouldn’t have had the season that I did. I owe a lot to Bruce Clattenburg with the Sprint Car, Larry Covey with the Modified and Skip Matczak with the Midget,” Chaffee concluded.

Readers also voted Chaffee Open Wheel Driver of the Year and 14-time track and series champion Chris Donnelly as Touring Series Driver of the Year.

Chaffee had a 26% plurality out of more than 13,000 votes cast for Driver of the Year.

"We couldn't be more pleased with how the fans made their voices heard and took these nominations seriously," said Vermont Motorsports Magazine Editor T.J. Ingerson. "All 67 nominees should be proud of their recognition. We are very thankful for the support from our readers for the votes we received. The entire staff at VMM congratulates Kevin Chaffee and the rest of the winners on their well-deserved honors."

Further details and a complete list of winners in all 11 categories can be found at vtmotormag.com.